Teaching System-of-Care Principles in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clerkships

The authors describe an approach for teaching system-of-care concepts to third-year medical students during their psychiatry clerkship. All students participated in a child and adolescent psychiatry seminar series highlighting these concepts, and four students per cohort were provided clinical exposure emphasizing this approach during patient care. Seventy-four of the 79 medical students completed pre- and post-clerkship questionnaires assessing their attitude toward four system-of-care concepts: the physician’s role working with the patient and family, the importance of the family’s participation in the process, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the use of the least restrictive treatment setting. Medical students who were exposed to the system-of-care concepts through seminars and clinical exposure showed a significant change in their attitudes regarding the first two concepts compared with their peers who only received didactic instruction.